ABSTRACTThere are multiple randomized controlled trials that have investigated the use of acupuncture in patients with knee osteoarthritis, and all but one of them came to a very different conclusion than Hinman et al. Recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses provide strong and overwhelming evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. Additionally, unlike 11 of the 13 randomized controlled trials in the Cochrane Database systematic review that found acupuncture effective in patients with knee osteoarthritis, Hinman et al did not radiographically confirm the clinical diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis. Therefore, it was with interest and some concern that we read the study by Hinman et al published in the October 2014 issue of JAMA titled “Acupuncture for Chronic Knee Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial.” We credit the authors for using a Zelen-design that likely reduced the risk of selection bias during recruitment. However, there are a…